Over 14 million children in U.S. infected with COVID-19

LOS ANGELES, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Over 14 million children in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children's Hospital Association.

Over 92,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported for the week ending July 21, the second consecutive weekly increase of reported cases, according to the report.

Over 311,000 child COVID-19 cases have been added in the past 4 weeks. Approximately 6.1 million reported cases have been added in 2022.

There is an urgent need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, said the AAP.

"It is important to recognize there are immediate effects of the pandemic on children's health, but importantly we need to identify and address the long-lasting impacts on the physical, mental, and social well-being of this generation of children and youth," said the AAP.